Chicago Cubs hope Bryan LaHair will be able to play the Opening Day game
The Chicago Cubs are hoping that their first baseman Bryan LaHair will be able to play the Opening Day game on April 5 against the Washington Nationals. LaHair has not been able to play in last two days his back tightened up.
The team manager Dale Sveum said on Sunday, April 01, that LaHair wanted to play but could not quite make his way.
When it comes to the first baseman himself, he does not regard the problem as something worrying. "I don't know," LaHair said on Sunday in Mesa, Arizona. "I have a [one]-hour ride to the field and back every day, and sitting in that one position, it tightened up a little bit. It's no big deal."
What is important to remember is the fact that LaHair has not hit any homer in the Spring this year. Even though his batting average hovers around .295, the inability to go for a homer might have aroused some curiosity for many and some concern too.
Nonetheless, the team manager dismisses all such, if any, concerns. For Dale Sveum, it is the slugging percentage that is important, not the homers.
"People forget that home runs come in bunches, and you need 600 at-bats to hit 25 to 35 home runs," Sveum said. "He's hitting plenty of balls off the wall. The day he went down and got seven at-bats, he hit three balls off the wall. Home runs aren't as important to drive runs in as slugging percentage is.”
LaHair hopes that he will have a chance to play in Monday’s game in the Cactus League. The game at the Wrigley Field against the Washington Nationals, which will be the Opening Day encounter, will invite much attention and appeal.
It is for that highly anticipated game against the Nationals that LaHair will retain his fitness for the game, adding to the strength of the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs have a new chapter to start once the season kicks off. Having had the unimpressive season last year, they hope and try to have a completely different result whereby they remain the victors.
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